Arun Jaitley has written to Sports Minister Vijay Goel seeking a reversal of its order which removed the voting rights of Railways and Services in national sporting bodies and Indian Olympic Association after Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu also made same request.

The removal of voting rights of Railways and Services in national sporting bodies and Indian Olympic Association has become a bone of contention with Arun Jaitley writing to Sports Minister Vijay Goel seeking a reversal of its order. This comes after railways minister Suresh Prabhu made a similar plea. In his letter, the Minister of Finance and Defence Jaitely has said removal of voting rights may have an adverse impact in the long run. Jaitley in his letter has batted for both Services and the Railways, which employs 3,000 sportspersons, including most of the star players of the current women’s cricket team.

Through letters to all national federations in February and in subsequent months, the sports ministry had revoked the voting rights of the Railway Sports Promotion Board and the Services Sports Control Board because as per the National Sports Code of 2011, each state should have only one vote. “Voting rights give an organisation a desired say in governing body and player difficulties and issues brought out during camps/championships are resolved as equals,” Jaitley’s letter, reviewed by The Indian Express, says.

“The rational behind the decision or benefits/advantages of removing the voting rights of the most performing organizations is not clear,” Jaitley has written.